NONEN

FAST CAR - TRACY CHAPMAN

FAST CAR

"Hang ada gheta, jom la kita belah buang... pi mana mana, hang gheja aku gheja kita sewa la mana mana, dok sini pun takdak apa...aku tarak apa nak bukti kat orang, jom kita pi... tak rugi apa aih!"

Tersenyum sendirian dengan perasaan sesuatu melihat keghairahan generasi bila Luke Combs bintang country mendendangkan lagu Fast Car bersama Tracy Chapman. Ya, benar karya yang hadir pada tahun 1988 dari album sulung Tracy Chapman. Single hasil tahun 1986 itu bernasib baik setelah tamat persembahan (menggantikan Stevie Wonder yang punya masalah teknikal) di majlis harijadi Nelson Mandela di kota London.

Album dan single tersebut meledak penjualannya di dunia. Fast Car menang persembahan vokal wanita terbaik pada tahun 1989 dan dicalonkan untuk album terbaik. 7 lagi album telah dihasilkan oleh vokalis dan penulis lagu ini tidak mendapat sambutan dengan album akhir Our Bright Future pada tahun 2008. Bertahun Tracy beradaptasi dengan sifat – low profile.

Fast Car secara harfiahnya berkisar akan harapan sepasang kekasih untuk memulakan hidup baharu setelah melalui zaman remaja yang kacau bilau. Sudah tentu tema tersebut mampu dikaitkan secara umum. Terutamanya remaja bermasalah: ibu yang lari dan ayah yang kaki botol tiada harapan. Secara peribadi ia membawa rasa sebak tiap mendengar lantunan vokal Tracy di tahun tersebut bagaikan sedang memberi usul harapan pada pasangan.

Ia juga mampu menjadi usul pada sang kekasih sewaktu memandu laju tanpa arah di bawah aruhan narkoba.

Ada yang mengatakan lagu tersebut membawa unsur unsur queer. Tentang harapan sepasang kekasih yang mahu lari dari penilaian orang terdekat dengan melarikan diri ke lokasi baharu dan memulakan kehidupan bermakna. Bermulalah tebakan bahawa Tracy Chapman dan Alice Walker (penulis novel Color Purple) merupakan pasangan kekasih queer.

You got a fast carAnd I want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterStarting from zero, got nothin' to loseMaybe we'll make somethingMe, myself, I got nothin' to proveAnd you got a fast carAnd I got a plan to get us out of hereBeen workin' at the convenience storeManaged to save just a little bit of moneyWon't have to drive too farJust across the border and into the cityAnd you and I can both get jobsFinally see what it means to be livingSee, my old man's got a problemHe live in the bottle, that's the way it isHe said his body's too old for workingHis body's too young to look like hisSo Mama went off and left himShe wanted more from life than he could giveI said, "Somebody's got to take care of him"So I quit school and that's what I didYou got a fast carIs it fast enough so we can fly away?Still gotta make a decisionLeave tonight, or live and die this waySo I remember when we were driving, driving in your carSpeed so fast, I felt like I was drunkCity lights lay out before usAnd your arm felt nice wrapped around my shoulderAnd I, I had a feeling that I belongedI, I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someoneYou got a fast carWe go cruising, entertain ourselvesStill ain't got a jobSo I work in the market as a checkout girlI know things will get betterYou'll find work and I'll get promotedAnd we'll move out of the shelterBuy a bigger house, live in the suburbsSo I remember when we were driving, driving in your carSpeed so fast, I felt like I was drunkCity lights lay out before usAnd your arm felt nice wrapped around my shoulderAnd I, I had a feeling that I belongedI, I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someoneAnd you got a fast carAnd I got a job that pays all our billsStay out drinking late at the barSee more of your friends than you do your kidsI'd always hoped for betterThought maybe together you and me would find itI got no plans, I ain't goin' nowhereTake your fast car and keep on drivingSo I remember when we were driving, driving in your carSpeed so fast, I felt like I was drunkCity lights lay out before usAnd your arm felt nice wrapped around my shoulderAnd I, I had a feeling that I belongedI, I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someoneYou got a fast carIs it fast enough so we can fly away?Still gotta make a decisionLeave tonight, or live and die this way-----------------------NOTA: Tidak ada perasaan lain selain dari rasa bahagia kembali melihat Tracy bergandingan dengan Luke Combs (yang rendah hati melibatkan penulis asal karya) di malam grammy lepas. Saya masih melihat Fast Car sebagai single yang berlirik indah, bercerita dan membuyung harapan pada manusia yang tercari cari kebahagiaan secara positif. Ya, benar mahu merasa dirinya berguna dan dicintai.